Mastering the Silverstone Bumps Key for Dovizioso

Andrea Dovizioso believes finding the right set-up will be key to his hopes of victory in Sunday’s British Grand Prix as he looks to keep his championship challenge on track. The Italian saw off Marc Marquez in Austria to claim his third win of the season and arrives at Silverstone sixteen points off the championship leader, although Ducati haven’t won here since 2008.

Dovizioso saw his hopes of winning last year thwarted by his own physical limitations but the 31-year-old arrives here revelling in his Spielberg triumph, and especially the circumstances of his last corner duel with Marquez.

“It’s a wonderful track, very long and difficult to manage all the conditions”, he explained. “Last year was a strange race as I had a lack of energy with arm pump but I believe this year will be different. Austria was amazing. When I went home and watched the race, I was more nervous than when I was in the race because I did many laps in front and I had to focus on my lines. The last corner was quite crazy but I was focused and made the right decision.”

With Yamaha hoping to re-join the fray after struggling in Austria, Dovizioso expects all three leading manufacturers to compete at the front on Sunday and with Formula 1’s use of the Northamptonshire circuit creating a bumpy surface, ‘Dovi’ feels the team which masters the bumps could unlock the key to victory.

“Maverick is strong here so there are many riders who can be very fast. It should be a good weekend, especially because it looks like we will have good weather and we will have time to work on the bike. It’s very difficult to find the right set-up for the bumps because if you’re watching the bumps a lot, it’s difficult to work on braking, turning and other stuff. I don’t think it will be a big problem for our bike but we’ll have to see if the track has changed a lot or is the same as last year.”